I have been the worst at blogging recently (it happens every time I have a new baby). But this past week was definitely one to remember; so I am taking measures to remember it!

The kids were on fall break this whole past week and we did fun stuff basically every day!

Monday

The kids (Fay especially) have been dying to jump in piles of fallen leaves for the past month+. The leaves finally fell last weekend and Monday morning was the perfect time to jump in! As we were preparing to head out to the yard, I got a text inviting us for a playdate. I said we might have to do a different day since leaves were the priority; but the playdate came to us because, apparently, ours weren’t the only children dying to jump into fallen leaves!

That afternoon we watched the first half of Hocus Pocus! It was the first time the kids have been permitted to watch and I’m very pleased to report that none of them thought it was too scary. It was really amusing to me, though, that whenever the movie was focusing on the normal people, the kids would all cry out “Where are the witches?! When are the witches coming back?!” And true to form for our kids, they have been playing Sanderson Sisters the rest of the week.

Also on Monday, we had family party, in which Carter elected to do in-house trick-or-treating. So much Halloween fun!

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Tuesday

The morning was kind of basic. In the afternoon the kids and I finished watching Hocus Pocus. That evening, after we raked and disposed of many leaves, Mother and Daddy came over to see Perky Pumpkins! We also happened to have 4 other groups of neighbors stop by and see them while we were out in the yard. Everybody was quite impressed with everything Josh had created, as they should have been! And it was fun for me to remember again just how amazing a man I am sealed to. I just like him so much! If you haven’t seen/played Perky Pumpkins yet, you still have a week to come check it out!

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Wednesday

This was another chill day at home. But in the afternoon we went to the “fish park” and played. There is a stocked-with-fish pond and the playground has a fish on it. We walked around the pond some and the kids collected some leaves and other plants, which I told them they could keep until we went home. However, I did allow one leaf to accompany us home because the kids wanted to classify it! (How can you say no to classifying plant species?!) Based on our research, it appeared to be Cottonwood.

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Thursday

Today was extra exciting! We went with some friends to Gardner Village to see witches! It was pretty chilly, and Bianca lost it, so we didn’t get to stay as long as we had hoped (aka: until we found all the witches on the Scavenger Hunt); but we still had a lot of fun! Gardner Village witches are one of my favorite Halloween traditions! I’m so grateful they were still here despite the pandemic.

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Another thing I did on Thursday was make cinnamon rolls (with the AMAZING Cinnabon recipe I got from Megan)! I added some butter-toasted pecans to the top this time. They were a hit!

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Friday

Today was certainly the highlight of the week! Back on Wednesday, as we were walking around the park, Fay was explaining to me the difference between a “park” and an “adventure property.” She wanted to be at the latter. I told her that when I was a kid we used to go up to the “Beaver Pond” which was really out in nature and definitely a place for adventuring. She thought it sounded cool, and then I really wanted to go! So I called Mother on the way home and asked if she would take us. She said she would, but that it might have to be next year because she thought they would close the gate this weekend. I informed Mother that we were currently on Fall Break and had no plans for Friday, and she–being the coolest person ever–agreed to take us up over the mountain to roast hotdogs and marshmallows at the Beaver Pond just two days later!

So we went! Morgan came too, and I was so grateful he did! At the Beaver Pond the temperature was 31°. Fay, Carter, and Portia did decently well in the cold, especially with all their winter gear and the fire Morgan made. But Helen and Bianca absolutely LOST it! Mother and Morgan helped everybody have a little bit of adventure before they froze and made sure everybody got food, etc. And then they cleaned everything up while I sat in the car trying to soothe Bianca from her abject rage. Despite the cold and the baby drama, I loved our excursion up over the mountain! We were also very privileged to see lots and lots of beautiful autumn leaves, as well as some fun Halloween yard displays.

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Thank you so much Mother (and Morgan, too) for the wonderful adventure!

Friday night, we drove down to Lindon to participate in “Boston Cream Pie Day.” Grandma Zulla has been serving Boston Cream Pie to all the extended family every year on October 23 for decades! This year, due to COVID, only Josh’s siblings and their families came to the party in person; but Mom and Grandma delivered Boston Cream Pie kits to others who would have ordinarily been invited. It is a fun tradition!

Saturday

Saturday was Josh’s definition of success for a day: productive. Friday night, I told Josh that I had a list of things I wanted to accomplish on Saturday. By the end of Saturday, the list had grown significantly and we had checked off almost all the things! While Josh and I were being productive, the kids happily entertained themselves with newly rotated toys, and even helped out a little. 🙂 And Bianca slept like a champ! That was a huge part of our ability to get so much done.

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Sunday

We have loved our week of autumny magic! And this morning we woke up to snow! Just a skiff, but still we had to play in it! After church, the kids all went out and made a family of tiny snow-men and as big of snowballs as they could!

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Just for fun, I’ll add the family picture we took almost 2 weeks ago. We originally had grandiose plans for enlarging/printing it and displaying it throughout the season ,etc. But we basically laid all grandiose decorating ideas aside this month in favor of Josh’s epic haunt and new carpet. So, I don’t really feel like complaining. Maybe we’ll blow it up next year…

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I haven’t written anything since August, but all there really is to share is that at-home school is busy, but getting more manageable.

I wanted to focus today’s post on each of the kids. They are all so fun to be with, and I love each of their personalities so much! So here’s just a little snippet of each of them at this moment in history.

Fay

Fay is in third grade and is just seeming SO grown up! She is so good at doing her schoolwork, even though I can only be there with her intermittently. She still loves reading (especially Rescue Princesses) and adventures and fancy and all the classic Fay things. The other day I was trying to exercise while holding Bianca. Fay came down the stairs to announce that she was on a lunch break from school. When she saw me trying to exercise with Bianca, she just walked over, picked up Bianca, and took her downstairs to play until I was done with my workout. She is doing amazing stuff like that all the time! I am SO blessed to have this girl!

Some funny things from Fay:
The other day a discussion got around to mint chocolate cupcakes. Josh mentioned that it would be funny if the baker used toothpaste to make the mint flavor. Fay chimed in with (paraphrased) “Yeah! You could use it as frosting. It’s even already in a piping bag.” I felt like it was such a clever notion!

Carter

Carter is in first grade and likes it fine. I think he would be a lot happier (as would Fay) if things were all normal and they could just go to real school. But he has absolutely latched onto the Dog Man series of books. He has now read all 9 of them, and if there were 12, he totally would have read those as well. (Thanks to Megan and Calvin for the suggestion!) He is frequently my first obeyer when it comes to doing chores, which is an incalculable blessing! The other day, he just decided to clean up the entire basement by himself so that we could rotate toys sooner. We’re so glad he’s our boy!

Some Funny things from Carter:
A few weeks ago it was after lights-out time and Helen (room-mates with Carter) started yet another escape attempt from bed. I had totally had it by this time, so when I closed the door after saying goodnight, I stayed at the door holding the doorknob so she couldn’t escape. As Helen tried and tried to get the door open, I heard Carter encourage “Helen, try the handle.” I shot back “What?!” to which Carter replied “Aghh! I don’t know what I’m saying!” I cracked up!

Another amusing moment:
Me: Carter, it’s time to get dressed. Can I pick out your outfit?!
Carter: Sure. But can you pick my Hot Wheels shirt?

The boy knows what he wants!

Portia

This girl is always exciting! She is one year away from kindergarten, but because of the pandemic, she isn’t in any kind of preschool. She and I have been learning letters at home and she is beginning to sound out words on her own! She read the word “off” on the bathtub faucet and sounded out my name when writing me a note “momey.” I am very impressed! She still loves stories, playing with dolls and dress-up, sucking her thumb, and playing with all her siblings. We still adore her!

Funny from Portia:
A year or so ago, Josh was asking Portia all her favorites. Favorite food: pasta. Favorite color: pink and purple. Favorite drink: juice. Etc. Then he asked her favorite animal. She emphatically responded: BEAVER. I literally hadn’t realized she even knew what a beaver was. But all this time she has maintained that a beaver is her favorite. That knowledge will help this next exchange make a little more sense.

Me: I love your picture, Portia! Is that a princess on a unicorn?!
Portia: No!! It’s a mermaid on a beaver! Why would a unicorn have a checkered tail?!

Helen

Most everybody who spends a little time with Helen will comment that she is so sweet. And she IS! She is sweet and adorable no matter what she does, which is sometimes a little infuriating. For example, she sweetly pushes a chair over to the counter while everybody else is preoccupied with school or something, and sweetly swipes and eats the last peach that I promised someone they could have after they did such and such. When you catch her at the end of the deed, she smiles sweetly and says something like “peach yummy!” She’s sweet as she sneaks out of bed for the 638th time and pokes Carter as he tries to fall asleep. And no matter what the offense, she gives you the same perfectly adorable smile every time, and you just can’t help but giggle a little at her naughtiness.

But she is also just sweet when she’s sweet. She will happily play with anyone, but will also happily play by herself–which, with the advent of school, she has to do far more often than I would like for her. She loves coloring (frequently, sweetly all over furniture), baby dolls, play food, and Anna from Frozen. She continues developing her speaking skills and frequently speaks in sentences. And everything that comes out of her mouth is seriously SO SWEET! Like the other night when she saw me looking through cans in food storage, she excitedly asked “Whata you picking?!” I showed her the can I had removed and she giggle with elation as she said “Oh! Thata corn!” I can’t get enough of her sweetness!

Some sweet humor from Helen:
At any moment in the day, with or without catalyst, Helen may pipe up with the following conversation:

Helen: Mommy.
Me: What, Helen?
Helen: Bianca cute.

I usually respond with a hearty affirmative followed by a declaration that Helen is also cute. That may be why she is so apt so say it…

Bianca

This baby, tho! Based on her first two months of life, I expected Bianca to be crawling by now. But she decided to sit and stay and get two teeth, instead! She is SUCH a happy baby! Over the past month or so, she has left basically all her cranky moments behind her and is either content, overjoyed, or ready for a nap. Josh’s mom asked a while ago “Were all of your kids this cute? She just gives the hugest smiles every time I look at her.” My response is: “All our kids were definitely that cute. But there is still only one Bianca.”

She absolutely LOVES eating big people food! She gets super excited watching the kids on the swings. She is fascinated by me sticking my tongue out and tries to grab it. She is definitely at the stage where she tries to put everything in her mouth. And she finally seems to have settled into somewhat of a nap schedule. She is such a joyful addition to our life!

Some baby humor from Bianca:
A baby game I like to play with the kids is putting a thin blanket over them as they lie down and then pull it off exclaiming “peek-a-boo!” Bianca LOVES this game; but every time I pull the blanket off, she goes into the newborn startle reflex with her legs and arms straight out and a startled look on her face. Then she’ll go back to a smile. It is so funny to see the startle over and over!

Don’t you all just wish you could hang out with them all the time?! Having these amazing little people in my life is the biggest blessing! If only I had the best-ever husband to go along with them… Oh wait! I totally DO! 😉